1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; 2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: 4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: 5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. – Psalm 124:1-8
Of all the development projects Malawi undertook during the first 30 years of Malawi’s Independence, was the establishment of the University of Malawi. I am most happy about the University because the institution has graduated professionals in agriculture, humanities, law, medical from Bunda, Chancellor College, Kamuzu College of Nursing, Kamuzu College of Medicine, and Polytechnic (changes have been made to their names). In their individual and sometimes collective ways, the professionals have paved, or attempted to create the path to Press Freedom throughout Africa that was called for at the 1991 Windhoek Press Freedom Conference.
The following is the personal poll of what they did for press freedom in Malawi. Press Freedom Day was first instituted on May 3, 1991, where Al Osman and I were the Malawians in the Windhoek Conference Hall. Last week I highlighted the testing of the policy and law guaranteeing Press Freedom. This week I continue highlighting some national and personal events (tow per president) involving Malawi’s six Presidents; that is from Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda to Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.
1. Kamuzu Banda- For all the rhetoric Kamuzu blasted over the newspapers and radio about his love/hate relationship with foreign and local journalists, the freedom of the press was signed into the laws of Malawi during the last years of his 31-year rule. For 31 years, any time he spoke about journalists it was with demeaning phrases such as “half-baked journalists,” “you can’t ask me that question,” or “I’m not going to answer that question.” The other five presidents have tried and tested press freedom; some passed, some failed. But press freedom is here to stay.
2. Muluzi- Through connection to former UDF Secretary-General Harry Thomson, President-elect Bakili Muluzi held his first interview with BBC Veronique Edwards and me. Several weeks into his presidency, an aide told me that the president sent back his statement to the speech writers because there was no mention of women in it. “This statement does not mention women. Do you want Mrs. Karim to write about the lack of women in my statement?” (Sic).
3. Bingu Wa Mutharika- He was the first president to invite journalists to a “come and dine with the President ” event. I almost was barred from this event because I wasn’t on the media associations’ lists; thanks to former ADC Soko who sent his assistant to come and escort me into the dinning area, I partook in the presidential media meal. While his presidency was hounded by the boom of social media, he was saved by several winning programs, among them the agriculture subsidies, the choice of Joyce Banda (first female candidate in the presidential level) as his 2009 vice presidential candidate, and the building of the inland port.
4. Joyce Banda- Malawi’s first and Africa’s second female president, energized women in the country that the media did not ignore. Her travels to Nigeria, Liberia, South Africa, and Botswana was embraced by the media as a plus. She brought to the fore of reporting issues affecting women that led to decreases in maternal mortality rates. Sadly, the bleeding of government funds that preceded her administration led to her self-imposed exile; this lasted until she was cleared by international auditors. Regrettably, the local media and social media continue to blame her for the Cashgate saga. She has embraced social media and uses it to speak about projects.
5. Peter Mutharika- His 2014 win against Joyce Banda was embraced by the media. When I met him on his maiden trip to the UN, upon meeting Malawians, in greeting me, he told me “I like what you write about; you write very well; although I don’t always agree with some of the things you write about.” A very fair comment, a president reads my articles, and sadly listeners only heard the last part “…..I don’t always agree with some of the things you write about.” His second relationship with the media is like Kamuzu, he understood the writing on the wall splashed in the media about the 2019 presidential results. He agreed for the fresh elections, and like Kamuzu, he accepted the results.
6. Chakwera- As former president Joyce Banda, Chakwera joined the social media forums, including WhatsApp groups, and uses these to get news items unfilter by bias and branding. Despite both traditional and social media criticisms that are many times personal or stereotypical, his administration is hounded by the jailing of two journalists for articles about corruption. He is the second president to invite the media to the State House (Kamuzu Palace) for a meal event – May 3, 2024.
7. Western Media- The big player section of the media that deserves dishonorable mention is the western media. In over 60 years of reporting on Malawi or African situations, the western main media outlets are mainly in the country or in African continent to report the bad news, using mainly western lenses, voicing commentary that does not help the situation, and in many cases add fuel to warring segments (disparagingly called factions). There has been a 60-year infilling of the information highway with negative news, fake news, and stereotyping of anything African. There are 54 countries, western media continue to label and brand the continent as corrupt, riddled with disease, and wide-spread poverty. Grateful thanks to social media which is utilizing youthful journalists (Cool Buzz and Swahili Nation among them) with daily commentary, through African lenses, on positive pro-Africa attention to what is happening in Africa. Today.
Malawi and the other 53 African countries, need more of these new-look Africa news outlets (found on YouTube) in this era of ultra press freedom. Press freedom is not about parroting what the western media spews about Africa; press freedom is reporting on stories that help our people to live their lives, not like Europeans or Americans, but as Africans, a dignified people with diverse culture and experiences.
Long live press freedom!